Pico Quiz Game with arcade buttons and 3D printable case

This project is a quiz buzzer created using a Raspberry Pi Pico. It was created for a tutorial in The MagPi magazine #129

The game is a multiple player quiz game, where a quiz master reads the question and the players have to press their button first, and get the correct answer. The button of the fastest player lights up, removing the ambiguity when two players press the buzzer at the same time.

The game can also be used for a multi-player reaction game. The central button lights up and then whoever reacts fastest is the winner.

Pico quiz game circuit

The breadboard diagram is shown below. This features 5 Arcade switches with built-in 5V LEDs. There is a ULN2803A darlington driver used to switch the 5V LEDs and buzzers.

Breadboard design Raspberry Pi Pico quiz game with arcade buttons

Crimp connections for Arcade switches

The arcade buttons have 4 terminals on. Two of these are for the switch, these are normally open and close when the arcade button is pressed. The other two are for the LED, which can have one or two LEDs in series as well as an internal resistor.

A good way to connect to these terminals is using a crimp spade connector. You can buy these pre-made, but they are simple to make yourself following the guide in the video below.

3D printable case

One of the things I've done in the past is to mount arcade buttons in a storage box, such as a "Really Useful Box", such as the 4 litre box. For this I wanted something that looked a little more professional so I designed the box below using FreeCAD and 3D printed it.

The design and STL files are provided below. This has been designed as a sturdy box with thick walls. You may need to increase the width of the walls compared to your normal settings which will allow for a M4 screw tap allowing you to screw the lid into the base. The print time may take around 2 days to print both parts.

Alternative games

Whilst designed for a quiz buzzer the arcade buttons could be used for other games as well. As the buttons can be lit up then that provides opportunities for feedback to the user. In the below example (included on the github page) the code has been updated into a multi-player reaction timer.